Best Places to Retire

Your retirement years are a time to improve your golf game, take up a new hobby, or just enjoy a well-deserved break. Raleigh Durham was ranked in the top 25 places to retire. And, you can expand your intellectual horizons too.

The Durham area would rank as a retiree Mecca even without Duke University's stellar lifelong-learning program. Residents enjoy four seasons that are not too extreme. There are beautiful places to live, the area is dotted with golf courses and parkland, and the region is home to a renowned university medical center.

The Raleigh Durham area is also a budding cultural haven. Duke's Nasher Museum of Art has a growing contemporary art collection. Concerts and Broadway hits, such as Billy Elliot and the Lion King, frequently make their way to the newly built 2,800-seat Durham Performing Arts Center.

Duke's 33-year-old senior learning program is one of the largest in the country, with more than 1,500 members. There are 100-plus courses offered every term. Plus, because most courses are offered on campus, members can mix with the younger generation in the student center, libraries, and dining halls. At the same time, 25% of the population is over 50.